Defying Duty
by AllByMyLonesome
Summary: Short one-shot about Estoria and her battle with her duty to King and Country. Please Read, Enjoy, and Review. Anyways, it all began with...


**Defying Duty**

**Disclaimer: **I wish I owned it. The Green Rider Series is far too brilliant to be my brainchild…

**A/N: **A story I wrote a while ago and discovered on my computer last night. I have spent a while revising, but I still think Estoria is a little OOC. I mean, in reality, she's far too conscious of her duty, and not to mention loyal, to…oh, you haven't read it yet! Haha, nearly gave it all away. Anyways…not my best writing in the world, but hopefully entertaining…

**Summary:** Short one shot about Estoria and her battle with her duty to King and Country. Read, Enjoy and Review! Anyways, it all began with…

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Hoof beats. Her constant companions, their pounding reverberated in her soul, at times taking her completely unawares. Sometimes they were soft and gentle, barely even existent. Like the rhythmic patter of rain on a tin roof, they whispered in the back of her mind nearly silent, but always there. Other times they drummed in her mind, an earth shattering pounding that shook her to the core. These were the times when she was most vulnerable, lost within herself, oblivious to the world.

Estoria stood on her balcony, watching the moon as it hung, a brightly glowing sphere dangling from a thread in the sky. She was entirely alone on the balcony, and yet the hoof beats never ceased. Most nights, they intensified, sending her walking, as though in a dream, to her door. She had no idea where she was going, but the persistent need to leave her room all but consumed her. When the door would not open, she struggled, pounding it with her fists until they bled. Estoria started; the blood always brought her back to herself, banishing the pounding to the back of her mind. Every night it was the same: caught in a trance she would fight to open the door until her hands bled, and the blood stained the wooden floor. Yet this was a self inflicted imprisonment: when fully conscious, Estoria knew where her feet would lead her in the middle of the night, and while she longed for the freedom, her duty held her back.

Duty. It was a word she had come to despise. It controlled her actions, preventing her from living life as _she_ desired. Hour upon hour she had spent sitting in front of her mother, learning the 'duty' of a young woman and a wife. But while she loathed the word, she was no less bound to it, tied too firmly to move an inch. All her life, she had dreamed of escape, of being free to make her own destiny. And now, when that chance had finally come, opportunity clothed in a green cloak and accompanied by the pounding of hooves, she found herself more firmly imprisoned than ever. A queen-to-be could not abandon her duty, no matter the pain it caused her. And so Estoria spent every night in misery, sobbing relentlessly against the doorframe, dying a little with each falling tear. She wondered if Zachary had any idea of her torment. How long she could keep up appearances, sleepless as her nights were of late, Estoria did not know.

Of course, she had heard the stories. Her own friend had ridden halfway to the castle in her nightgown because she resisted The Call too long. And there were other tales: riders driven mad by the pounding in their heads, falling prey to ill-wishers in their semi-conscious states. It was folly to resist the Riders' Call, nigh on impossible, or so she had been told. But did that apply to a sovereign-to-be, she wondered, even an unwilling one? Would they still say it was folly to resist if they knew that their King's fiancée spent every night wrestling with the lock on her door, aching to escape to the pastures? More importantly, when the King found out, what would he say? Under no illusions that she could outlast The Call, these questions plagued Estoria night and day.

Standing there on the balcony, watching the twinkle of the stars, Estoria glimpsed movement in the fields below. Those fields belonged to the riders, and the movement she saw was that of the horses, suddenly spooked by something in the forest, galloping across the meadow. Suddenly, the pounding flared up again, and she fell to her knees with the force of it. Looking up into the bright light of the moon, Estoria made up her mind. Feeling selfish and reckless, she lifted her legs over the balcony, forcing herself not to look at the 40 foot drop to the cobblestone street below. Inching across the narrow stone ledge with her heart in her throat, Estoria noticed that the pounding had ceased, like a selfish toddler who detested being ignored. Estoria finally reached the neighboring balcony, and with a relieved sigh, climbed over the railing to firm ground. Walking briskly through her study and out into the hall, Estoria made her way to Captain Mapstone's rooms. Knocking lightly on the door, she put her mouth to the crack and whispered forcefully,

"Captain! Open up, it's Estoria." She heard a creaking within, and the door opened slightly to reveal a bleary-eyed Captain of the Riders. Mapstone blinked several times, and after rubbing both eyes with the ball of her palm, asked,

"Yes, My Lady?" Estoria glanced briefly to the left and right, making sure that she and the captain were truly alone, before whispering,

"My head is pounding. For the past several nights I have laid wretched and broken on the floor …" Estoria trailed off, and the Captain's brow furrowed in confusion and anxiety.

"Are you ill? Is should take you to the infirmary—"

Leaning in closer, Estoria cut her off, "I don't believe the infirmary has a cure for hoof beats."

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**So looking back, I'm not sure I love the ending… too OOC for this to be real, and I think I might have failed at the witty-ness. Oh well. Maybe I'll revise and expand…What do you guys think? Anyway, R&R! Thanks!

A/N:

xoxo

Adèle Noëlle


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